[INTERVIEW] 'Gangwon Province will represent latest technologies, not potatoes and mountains'

Gangwon Province Governor Kim Jin-tae speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at the provincial government's headquarters in Chuncheon. Courtesy of Gangwon Provincial Government

Governor Kim Jin-tae intent on attracting Samsung chip plant, international schools

By Ko Dong-hwan

CHUNCHEON, Gangwon Province ― Just like his surprising transformation from a conservative politician to the governor of Gangwon Province, Kim Jin-tae wants to change the mountainous eastern province, which has been a favored spot for vacationers, into an attractive destination for high-tech firms from around the world.

One example reflecting such ambitions is the provincial government's decision on Aug. 24 to persuade Samsung Electronics to build a semiconductor factory in the province. Kim even hired Jeong Kwang-yeol, the former vice president of Samsung Electronics, as one of the two vice governors to assist him in his new term that began after he won in the local elections on June 1.

In the Aug. 24 meeting at Gangwon Provincial Government's headquarters in Chuncheon, Kim discussed with the provincial city of Wonju's Mayor Won Kang-soo about where and how to introduce the much-anticipated factory inside the city. For the factory's potential site that will at least have to be 3.3 million square meters in area, the two regional officials agreed to search for more available sites in the city to build the factory in addition to an existing site for an upcoming semiconductor manufacturing cluster in the city's Buron Township about 1.3 million square meters in area.

"We will dig up mountains if we have to in order to prepare a site for the factory," Kim told The Korea Times. "And with the new factory, we will hopefully get the central government to designate that cluster as a specialized national industrial zone for semiconductors."

The interior of a Samsung Electronics semiconductor factory in Xi'an, China, can be seen in this photo taken on July 19. / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics

Kim's goal is in the same vein as the Special Law for Strengthening and Nurturing National Futuristic Strategic Industries under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy that was passed by the National Assembly last January. Under the new law, the designation will grant provincial budget support from the central government. With the financing boost, Kim said he will build a whole new ecosystem inside the province necessary to sustain the industry, including educating skilled workers required for semiconductor production and attracting some 2,500 local factories and firms across the country related to the critical components for virtually all electricity-powered products sold worldwide.

Gangwon Province, compared to other regions in the country, has some of the most attractive conditions for manufacturers. Purchasing a piece of land to build a factory in the province costs only 5 percent of the price of building one in the capital region (including Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province) and 60 percent of the national average. The province also offers attractive subsidies to firms nestling in the province. For anyone who provides provincial officials with information about a corporate investment into the province that ultimately leads to the signing of an MOU, the authority awards as much as 200 million won ($150,000).

Such a business-friendly environment goes hand in hand with Gangwon Province's other initiatives to support newcomers and their families to the province: education and tourism. Special educational districts inside the province with international schools are one of the local attractions he envisions.

"Jeju Island has left a successful record in that regard," Kim said. Jeju, a special self-governing province, is what Kim wants to learn from as a leader of a region of the same special designation. "And our newly-elected superintendent of education agreed with the idea, too."

Kim's ambitious vision is in line with Gangwon Province becoming a special self-governing province from July 11, 2023 as a Cabinet meeting passed laws giving "special autonomous status" to the province on June 7.

Under the new status, Gangwon Province will have much greater autonomy than other provinces so that it can make policy decisions and take responsibility for its own governance. Currently, Jeju and Sejong are the only self-governing provinces in Korea.

Compared to education, Gangwon Province has much more to offer in terms of tourism. Dense forests of the colossal Taebaek mountain range running vertically through the province and the Korean Peninsula as well as a long coastline hugging the East Sea have been favored destinations for vacationers. Kim appreciates such resources as regional assets to draw tourists and businesses from around the world.

Residents of Yangyang County in Gangwon Province, who support a cable car construction project on Mount Seorak that has been held in limbo due to a lengthy environmental assessment, listen to a briefing by an official from the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission in February, on how the construction might affect the site. Courtesy of Yangyang County Office

"Do you know why the headquarters of Apple and Google are in Silicon Valley? Interestingly, because of its natural environment," said Kim, citing Kim Kyung-ho, the president of Tesla Korea who gave a speech at Kangwon National University in July this year. "Especially in this post-COVID era, I think the natural surroundings in our region can strongly appeal to global firms. Even for Koreans in Seoul and other areas in the capital region who have a 'second house' in our province to rest on weekends, they can prepare their 'first houses' here in Gangwon Province and commute to Seoul via KTX (a bullet train run by state-run KORAIL). There are also more than a dozen land development projects going on in our province that will introduce luxurious resorts for tourists like those in Hawaii's Waikiki Beach, each being privately invested with more than 1 trillion won."

Regional hurdles

Kim said the province has a long way to go even after obtaining administrative autonomy from the central government.

"The foremost task now is getting the central government to deregulate various land development bids in our province. The Ministry of Environment has been holding back our new cable car construction project over Mount Seorak (which is expected to be a lucrative tourism business for the province) for the past 40 years by repeatedly failing its environmental assessment. We want to ask the ministry to let us handle that assessment."

Further improving public transportation routes for trains, buses and airplanes (with Yangyang International Airport on the eastern coast) is another goal Kim has set to bring Gangwon Province closer to the capital region.

Samcheok Beach in the eastern city of Samcheok, Gangwon Province, is one of the province's many popular tourism destinations. Courtesy of Gangwon Provincial Government

The governor from the conservative ruling People Power Party is rather stringent when it comes to spending taxpayers' money on public projects, according to Jeong, the vice governor. "He is rather conservative in spending the provincial budget. But he also wants to use it wisely, where it's really needed," Jeong told The Korea Times.

Part of Kim's efficient governance agenda is relinquishing management authority over ski resorts in the province previously used during 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. Maintaining all those slopes costs the government more than 10 billion won per year. "The facilities' ownership should rather be transferred to a body of the central government, like Korea Sports Promotion Foundation," said Kim.

The governor, for the first time in 10 years as the provincial head, started visiting 18 cities and counties in the province to hear their voices in person. Launching the trip on Aug. 10 that will take weeks to complete, he said encountering the demanding public was a nerve-wrecking experience.

"When I was in Jeongseon County, I faced people who were packed inside a local community center and shouted out their demands. I was sweating up a storm trying to answer them," said Kim. "That was kind of inefficient, handling hundreds of demands impromptu. So since then, we and local municipalities narrowed down the flood of demands to a few most critical ones prior to my visit there and we focus on solving them during the meeting."